The Practice Of Loving Anyway

This meditation is an invitation to rest inside a love that doesn’t pick and choose.
A love that embraces people, places, and moments — even the ones that test our patience or stir our discomfort.
We’ll explore how to meet challenges, difficult relationships, and the imperfect edges of life with the same tenderness we give to what we cherish.
Together, we’ll soften into a space where nothing is outside the circle of our care, and every breath becomes an act of connection.

Transcript

Let yourself arrive,

Not just your body,

But your attention,

Your breath,

Your spirit.

Let them all gather here like birds coming home.

Can you feel the quiet gravity of your own weight,

And how the earth holds you without question,

Without effort,

Doesn't check whether you deserve it,

It simply holds.

Now somewhere,

Deep inside,

There's a small ember that has never gone out.

This is the place where love begins.

Even if you're tired,

Even if you're hurt,

And even when you've forgotten what love feels like,

It's there,

It's there.

Now take a deep breath in,

And let the inhale feed that ember a little air,

And when you exhale,

Give it room to glow.

We all know what it is to love something easily,

The sound of rain on the roof,

Oh,

The smell of bread fresh from the oven,

Or the way sunlight turns dust into tiny stars in the air.

Can you feel those simple loves warming that ember?

Well,

Allow that warmth to move outward,

You know,

Like water seeping through soil.

It doesn't rush,

But it does go where it's needed.

So the warmth that's going to touch the people you hold dear,

Without asking how they are,

Without needing to fix them,

It's just going to say,

I'm here,

You are safe in my presence.

And then it moves further,

Towards the ones who trouble you.

You know the ones,

The ones whose presence feel like sand in your shoe,

They make your chest tense,

They make you want to pull out.

Stay,

And let the ember keep glowing.

You don't have to like them,

You don't have to agree with them,

But let your warmth touch them anyway.

Because love without walls is not about worthiness,

It's about wholeness.

So let yourself love the difficulty,

And love the resistance,

And love the sharp edges in you that all of this stirs up,

Because they too are part of the map of your heart.

Now that the warmth is overflowing,

Let it spill into the land beneath you.

It will sink into the roots of trees you've never seen,

And run through the slow veins of rivers.

It'll slip under stones,

Slick with moss,

And then meet in the deep quiet,

In caves where light has never been.

Let it touch the insects threading their way through grass blades,

And the old fox moving in the dusk,

And the wise owl who sits in the tree and can see without light,

And of course the mountains that will be here long after we're all gone.

Now in your mind's eye,

Gaze upward,

And send love to the sky,

Not just when it's kind,

But when it's bruised with storms.

Love the way the wind bends trees until they creak,

And love the night even when it feels endless.

Now allow this love to find your challenges,

The ones you carry like heavy stones in your pockets.

Let that love,

That warmth,

Pour over those stones,

And feel the way it changes their weight,

The way they stop being obstacles,

And start being teachers in disguise.

Keep breathing.

Keep letting the love flow until there's no place it hasn't reached,

And no part of you that isn't touched,

And return.

When you are ready to return,

When you feel like a beacon of love shining in this earth,

Open your eyes like you are seeing the world for the first time,

And whatever your gaze falls on,

Whether it's the wall,

The window,

The floor,

Or the sky,

Let that be the first thing that you love.

Namaste.